Systems and methods herein generally relate to container labeling and 3D printers.
Packaging is a growth area in printing, and some approaches involve printing labels. In particular, the packaging can be used as the medium on which the labels are printed. This has traditionally required running everything from cardboard to cellophane (instead of paper) through a printer, which requires complex modifications to machines originally designed to only print on thin paper.
Conventional three-dimensional (3D) printing is characterized as “additive” manufacturing, which means that a solid, three-dimensional object is constructed by adding material in layers. This is in contrast to “subtractive” manufacturing, through which an object is constructed by cutting (or “machining”) raw material into a desired shape. 3D printer processes vary, but the material is usually sprayed, squeezed or otherwise transferred from the printer onto a platform.
The first stage of 3D printing is laying out an object's design with software, such as computer-aided design (CAD) or animation modeling software. Such software allows one to create a virtual blueprint of the object one wants to print. The software then automatically divides the designed object into digital cross-sections, which the printer builds layer by layer. The cross-sections essentially act as guides for the printer, so that the object is the exact size and shape designed.
After the finished design file is sent to the 3D printer, one chooses a specific material. Different print heads can add different materials to the object being created (e.g. rubber, plastics, paper, polyurethane-like materials, metals, and more). Then, the 3D printer makes passes (much like an inkjet printer) over the platform, depositing layer on top of layer of material to create the finished product. The average 3D-printed layer in common applications is approximately 100 microns (or micrometers) which is equivalent to 0.1 millimeters. Some printers can even deposit layers as thin as 5 microns.